What's the Best Way to Break Up Toffee Pieces?

What it means

• Hard-crack toffee fractures cleanly once it is fully cooled and brittle, so patience is the main trick - warm toffee bends and tears instead of snapping.
• You can either break it freeform into rustic shards or pre-score it for more even pieces.
• For toffee bits (for baking or topping), breaking cooled toffee inside a sealed bag keeps the shards contained.

Action steps

1. Let the toffee cool completely at room temperature, or chill it briefly, until it is hard and brittle.
2. Lift the slab off its liner and snap it into pieces with your hands, following any natural cracks.
3. For neater pieces, score the surface with a knife just as it begins to set, then break along those lines once cool.
4. To make small bits, seal cooled toffee in a zip-top bag and tap it with a rolling pin or the back of a spoon.

Risks & deadlines

• Toffee shards can have sharp edges - break it over a board and mind your hands.
• Do not chill toffee for long in a humid fridge; condensation on the surface can make it sticky.